Canny lass

In the version I learned as a child the ee sound was mentioned: I Before E except after C but only when the sound is EE Of course there are a few exceptions to this as well. Here in Sweden they use another rhyme when teaching English to students: I Before E except after C Or when sounded as A as in neighbour or weigh. This one is somewhat better, in my opinion, but it also has a few exceptions. However, you'll more often than not get it right by using the rule.

I've had a couple of those steeping in vinegar. Now drying out nicely!

Now I know what you mean! You're referring to the Nicholas Garrow Home for the blind. Nothing to do with Netherton. Thomas Taylor Homes (Part 3 accomodation - probably called something else these Days) and Mona Taylor (Maternity Hospital) shared the same entrance and grounds. The Maternity hospital was behind the Thomas Taylor Homes.

Thanks Eggy, that looks like a possible. Office Row was gone before my time at the colliery.

As with most things, Malcolm, as with most things.

I Think it might be something left over from Halloween.

I've just compared the stonework with that of Nedderton Village Junior school on other photos and they are definitely not the same. So, that rules it out.

I haven't ever Heard of this and looking at the building I can't place it anywhere other then Howard House, or the Weslyan Chapel as everything else was brick built in my day. It's also very reminiscent of the junior school at Netherton Village and could be - depending on when the name changed. I Think it might be a bit early to have anything to do with miner's strikes but it could have something to do with post-war poverty.

What would a Young lad not do to get his hands on a decent conker!! Well your visit seems seems to have made a lasting impression! At least you remember the name of the place. When you say Clifton Lane do you mean Clifton Row? I can't remember any blind home there or anywhere else in Netherton but I Think there was a deaf school at Nedderton Village.. I've also been wondering about the 'Naval Club'. Was it not the 'Ex - Naval Club'? I remember the Word Naval in the name but have never been able to find any naval links to Netherton.

It's just a rule of thumb but it works in most cases. Teaching these rules to Children ensures that they get it right most of the time. If they learn and apply the rule then they'll only make mistakes with the exceptions. As they get older they' will hopefully have learned what the exceptions are.

English Spelling is often related to the sound system of the language. The i Before e rule rule only applies when the sound represented by the letter combination 'ie' is pronounced as 'ee', as is the case with words like ceiling and receipt. The word 'science', on the other hand, doesn't have any 'ee' sound so the rule doesn't apply. There are a number of exceptions to the rule.

Why don't you start a Netherton album yourself, Eggy.

Well, it's a start toakley1965! However, I'm not sure about the idea that it "starts as rapidly as possible but takes a patient approach". Deadline for the stage 1 submissions is no more than 12 Days away. Thats hardly enough time to get your pencil sharpened never mind plan a town centre! Stage 2 date is "yet to be confirmed" - and we all know how long that to take.

Thanks Eggy. Shame I've just erected half a kilometer of Electric fencing yo keep the wild boar out of the garden!

Anybody got any idea how long I should let my conkers soak in vinegar? The grandchildren are nagging me to get on with the competitions.

Nivvor knew Nellie! You missed a treat! She could be as rough as a badgers backside but Lovely with it and she could hold her own in any affray with the sometimes burly, swearing, local lads - especially when they'd had a few. Nellie put up with no nonsense on her runs.

Thanks for the clarification HPW. Actually it was pronounced just as you wrote it - Naisby. I just assumed that that was the Netherton pronunciation for Nesbitt.

It seems there was more cheating going on with conkers than there was with leeks!

They would have been very much appreciated, Eggy. Im hoping to increase the scope of the experiment by varnishing a few.

You obviously didn't travel with Nelly. You only got a ticket when the conductress was on duty. Otherwise you paid the driver and you didn't get a ticket. Nelly had a wonderful ticket dispenser. Something of a Heath - Robinson contraption. It hung on a thick, leather strap across her chest and obtaining a ticket from it involved the pressing of heaven knows how many buttons.

So, the length of the string is important as well! Mind you, those conkers look very shiney - possibly buttered, possibly varnished?

I remember those! I've had many aticket from the 'conductress' of the 50's Nelly Halliday.

Thanks Eggy! The plaster of paris method sounds like blatant cheating so I won't be leading the grandchildren up that street! I picked up loads of conkers the other day so I'll have a bit of an experiment with half of them in a shoe-box (any excuse to buy a new pair of shoes) and half in vinegar. We'll see how it goes. I must have got it all wrong as I thought the aim was to produce a conker with a tough, leathery skin rather than a hard, brittle Shell. The butter, I assumed, was meant to give a slippery Surface so that the attacking conker would shoot off at a tangent on impact thus causing less damage. I can't remember where the steaming came into the process - Before or after the soaking in vinegar. Oh happy Days!

Not sure if I should be posting this here or in the hobbies section under sport. It was taken very seriously in Netherton giving it a status akin to top class athletics. Who can remember gathering, preparing and taking part in the noble sport of conkers? It's many a year since I've seen any conkers (horse chestnuts to the uninitiated) as they are not too common here, but today I found lots of them. I can't remember playing conkers but I remember collecting them and threading them on string to make a necklace (yes, I know. Little things please Little minds). My older Brothers used them to play conkers and I remember many hours spent sweating over steaming kettles, Bowls of malt vinegar and knobs of butter in order to achieve just the right leathery texture and a shiny Surface - both of which were deemed to be of the utmost importance if the conker wasn't to crack on impact. I can't remember the exact procedure though and the rules of the game escape me as well. Can anybody help. I'm sure there must have been other methods of preparing a winning conker apart from vinegar, steam and butter. I thought I'd have acrack at it with the grand-children.

I Think I've remembered a couple of others. Picture: Nedderton Village School Back row, fourth from right looks like Joe Lumsden (West Lea) and on the same row seventh from the left is Brian Dalgarno.